Yeovil Town were knocked out of the FA Cup at the Fourth Round stage on Friday night, as Premier League side Manchester United proved too strong for them. The tie turned against them four minutes before the break in a relatively even first half, when Marcus Rashford opened the scoring as he took advantage of a defensive error. During the second period, gaps began to show as the Red Devils counter-attacked, with Ander Herrera doubling the lead, whilst late goals from Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku extended the tie beyond Yeovil's reach.

The Glovers went into the match making two changes to the side that had lost against Chesterfield last Saturday. Otis Khan's high profile suspension meant that he made way for Lewis Wing, creating a shuffle around in midfield as he partnered Jared Bird in the centre. Bevis Mugabi missed out on the teamsheet entirely through illness meaning that Omar Sowunmi got a quick route back into the team. New signing Alex Fisher woke up on Friday morning in Scotland, but by 6.30p.m. was introducing himself to the manager and team, and got himself a seat on the bench.

The game got off to a rather feisty start, with Francois Zoko leaving his boot in on a Manchester United player within 30 seconds of the whistle, giving him 89.5 minutes sat on a yellow card. The Glovers were definitely up for this one, and they worked the first couple of chances - the first coming when Jordan Green cut in from the left flank only to find goalkeeper Sergio Romero's legs in the way of his near post shot. Jake Gray's well directed free kick found Omar Sowunmi inside the box, but his header easily went into the hand of Romero.

It wasn't until midway through the first half that the visitors' possession began to show some fruit, as rookie Scott McTominay got room to shoot from the edge of the box. Thankfully Artur Krysiak got his fingertips to the ball to push it around the post. Then came another rather industrial tackle, as Alexis Sanchez was chopped down by Nathan Smith outside the box. The United debutant curled the ball around the wall, but Krysiak read the flight well to save down low.

Yeovil were still creating the odd chance - Tom James got a free kick in a dangerous position, but it was beaten out by Sergio Romero. But United were beginning to get a few spaces, with Sanchez dragging a shot wide of the target when he was allowed time to turn and shoot on the edge of the box.

Four minutes from the break, the deadlock was broken in what was a sloppy goal, even considering the standard of the opposition. Alexis Sanchez put a through ball into the area that appeared to have got away from Marcus Rashford. As Nathan Smith and Tom James appeared to be looking to shepherd the ball back to Artur Krysiak, really James should have belted the ball out of the ground. The quick feet of Rashford darted in front of him and poked the ball past the outcoming Krysiak for a 0-1 deficit. With half time on its way, that was the goal and the timing that Yeovil definitely didn't want.

The second half saw Marcus Rashford have a shot deflected for a corner, before Juan Mata hit the top of the crossbar, albeit from a ball that was intended as a cross. But on the hour mark, with the Premier League club looking on top in the game for the first time, they got their second goal. Ander Herrera broke up field from a Yeovil corner, and Alexis Sanchez got his second assist of the evening as his through ball found his teammate who finished from the edge of the box for a 0-2 scoreline.

Yeovil's problem by now was the more they pushed players forward in search of a goal, the more dangerous they made their opponents look, in the more open spaces they left behind the ball. Juan Mata got the ball in the back of the net, but saw it chalked off for being offside at the far post. At the other end, Lewis Wing produced a well hit shot, but unfortunately one that went straight down the throat of Sergio Romero.

In the closing stages, Marcus Rashford's last contribution was to fire a shot onto Krysiak's near post, which the Pole saved. He then made way for 17 year old winger Angel Gomes, whose first contribution was to almost score, bursting past defenders before firing into the side netting from a narrow angle. The third goal wasn't far away though, as two minutes from time, Jesse Lingard tried the same trick rather more successfully, as he weaved through two defenders to fire into the far corner. United extended their lead further during injury time when another substitute Romelu Lukaku accepted a cross into the box, and fired a first-time shot into the back of the net to give the visitors a 0-4 win.

The dividing line was that first goal. One Manchester United got their noses in front, their counter-attacking made it very difficult for Yeovil Town to get anything out of the game, meaning that the second half was a bit of a stroll in the park for them. However, if Yeovil had been able to keep the scoreline level for a little longer than they did, what was eventually a comfortable victory, might have turned into something a bit more on a knife edge.